DD 21 months has dairy and egg free diet but no better Please Help!!!

[kmcomie]

Sorry I Know this will be long winded!

My dd is 21 months old and has had diary and egg free diet since she was 6 months and reacted to formula after coming off the breast. I have been referred to the consultant who just say keep things the same until she is 4yrs. However things are getting worse not better. She constantly has a bad chest, sore eyes, runny nose and a rash all over her body which is often worse in places. I can not remember her ever having a normal dirty nappy either and it just isn't fair on her to carry on like this for another 2 yrs or more.

She is my first born and no one else in the family suffers with anything like this so i have no experience. We have an appointment at the dietcian on friday and wondered if there was any advice on questions i should ask and/or issues I should push.

Has anyone's little one been tested at this age?? If so how???

Is there anyone i could get her reffered to who would understand some of her symptoms for a diagnosis???

Is this something the HV should be interested in??

Thanking you in advance for you help from a at the end of her patience Mum
Kerrie

My ds has dairy, soya and egg allergies. In my experience HV no good as dont have much knowledge of it. Dieticians are ok.. Someone who deals with allergies is the best thing, if you cant get referred you should really think about going private.

I personally have had the york test done which they just take a prick of blood. If she is suffering you really want to do the most you can. I know how hard it is to see your dc in pain.

A friend of mine had her ds tested and i think he was about 2

did the doctor refer you to a dietician? I would see how you get on with them. Go fully prepared with history of all her symptoms- how she reacts to certain foods. Ask the dietician about how you could be referred to immunologist if this is needed? I don't think that you should just accept/put up with it for the next 2 years - push for what you want.

Would be great to know how you got on as I want my 14 month to be referred to dietician as he has bad eczema as well and think it is food related.

I am glad someone else mentioned Soya, because Soya allergies are also quite common. My ds was allergic to milk, egg and soya, although now he is ok with soya(though still allergic to milk and eggs).
Does she have soya milk?
I would recommend trying to cut down soya a bit to see what happens. It's practically impossible to cut it out totally as it's in nearly everything (including bread) but cutting out soya milk and yogurt would probably be enough to show an improvement if soya was indeed the culprit.
My DS has Rice Dream, which is vile, but he is used to it. Also you can buy a calcium supplement by Osteocare which is in liquid form - very reassuring if you are worried about calcium intake.
Has she had any allergy tests? If her consultant is reluctant to offer them you could ask if he has a private clinic and you could pay him to do them . . . sometimes this makes [apparent] willingness to put your money where your mouth is makes them more sympathetic. Good luck

Hi thanks for the responses we are at the dietician in the morning (the doctor referred her to consultant and dietician after a long argument about not been happy) and i am now armed with massess of information and confidence. I will post the outcome as soon as i get back.

She has soya milk and yoghurt which was recommended. I dont giver her any of the cheeses or tofu but even since the first post her rash and things are getting worse. I brought her home from nursery yesterday with no top on because she had scratched at her belly so much it was bleeding. Thinking about the time of that as well it was after afternoon snack when she had a soya yoghurt so could be soya. I hope not but will see.

I would pay anything to get her sorted bless her and had never thought of going private. The other way to get a referral to a dietcian is through a surestart centre who are excellent at referrals and speed them upto. I got access to the dietcain 3 months earlier because they pay part of the nhs contract.

Keep you posted
Kerrie

Hello Kmcomie - look forward to full upward on what they did/said and outcome.

Hi kmcomie - how did you get on? really keen to find out. thanks

Hi Sorry for the delay in letting all you helpful people know what has happenend.

All the appointment managed to do was stress me and dd out completely. I spent all day pushing to be referred to someone who was helpful and useful.

Dietcian advised we go wheat free but said she was not convinced it was food. However without clear direction from the dietcian i decided that a second opinion would be helpful. Dietcian would also not recommend testing as she dosen't believe they work. She quoted if it is a positve result this may only be 50% accurate and if a negative result is 95% accurate so again would be unconclusive.

I think private is the way forward. I am now keeping a through food diary and tracking her nappies and skin condition to see if i can identify a pattern.

Anyone know of a good private allergy clinic in either essex or north lincolnshire.

Thanks for all your help i was fully armed and confident when i went to the appointment just a shame the outcome was not more positive.

Sorry to hear it was a frustrating appointment.

I can't help feeling that the dietician thinks a bit too much of herself - she is a dietician not an allergy specialist. Who is she to say that testing is inaccurate? Was she referring to skin prick tests here, or the tests for intolerances where you hold the food item? An allergy that was affecting the skin would show up on a skin prick test, and I think that is what you need.

The next move I would recommend to you would be to ask your GP about a private allergy clinic. I suspect he will refer you to the nearest NHS one instead - as I have mentioned before I find GPs have often been more helpful when I have offered to go private. There may be a long wait but you may be lucky!

(PS I asked my son's allergy specialist a couple of years ago if she had a private clinic, because my nephew was coming over from Australia, and I was convinced he had a nut allergy but my sister hadn't got it investigated. The Doctor said she hadn't got a private clinic but said: just phone me when they're over, I'll see him. I was so touched and impressed. But what do you think she would have said if I had asked her outright to see him? I have another similar story about my GP but won't drone on!)

Hi there, Thanks for the support. Gp will be my next port of call. DD has had really good skin for the past 3 days which is just sods law really isn't it.(although belly ans nappies still not great)

I am really going to pursue the possibility of her been tested as i just need to know one way or another. All this stabbing in the dark is no good for stress levels.

Dietcian is lost cause for me now i think i have research clinics locally and in london so will discuss with the GP and see

Thanks again
Kerrie

Just posted on your other thread but would have a think about taking her off the soya and asking the doctor for Neocate Advance - a low allergen formula. You can get it on prescription - am surprised your consultant hasn't prescribed it.Soya allergy is v common with dairy and egg.